U.S. capitalism is ahead of all. The greatest development
of technology and the most rapid progress are facts which make old Europe
emulate the Yankees. But it is not the democratic institutions that the
European bourgeoisie is borrowing from America, nor political liberty, nor
yet the republican political system, but the latest methods of exploiting
the workers.

The most widely discussed topic today in Europe, and to some extent in
Russia, is the “system” of the American engineer, Frederick Taylor. Not
so long ago Mr. Semyonov read a paper on this system in the assembly hall
of the Railway Engineering Institute in St. Petersburg. Taylor himself has
described his system under the title of “scientific”, and his book is
being eagerly translated and promoted in Europe.

What is this “scientific system”? Its purpose is to squeeze out of
the worker three times more labour during a working day of the same length
as before. The sturdiest and most skilful worker is put to work; a special
clock registers—in seconds and fractions of a second—the amount of time
spent on each operation and each motion; the most economical and most
efficient working methods are developed; the work of the best worker is
recorded on cinematographic film, etc.

The result is that, within the same nine or ten working hours as
before, they squeeze out of the worker three times more labour, mercilessly
drain him of all his strength, and are three times faster in sucking out
every drop of the wage slave’s nervous and physical energy. And if he dies
young? Well, there are many others waiting at the gate!

In capitalist society, progress in science and technology means
progress in the art of sweating.

The capitalist cuts his expenditure by half or more. His
profits grow. The bourgeoisie is delighted and cannot praise the Taylors
enough!

The workers get a wage increase at first. But hundreds of workers get
the sack. Those who are left have to work four times more intensively,
doing a back-breaking job. When he has been drained of all his strength,
the worker will be kicked out. Only young and sturdy workers are taken on.